Stress-producing factors, or stressors, can be physical (exercise and injury), biological (viral, bacterial and fungal), environmental (heat and cold), situational (work and education), and relational (friends and family). While there are numerous sources of stress, the responses they elicit from the body are very similar. Things like temperature, emotions, and injury cause identical biochemical reactions in the body. When we feel stressed, our heartbeat, breathing rate and blood pressure all go up. The longer we're pressured by stress, the greater the demand on the body. Prolonged stress can lead to a wide range of physiological complications and psychological difficulties.

Stress Accelerates Aging

Scientists have identified the mechanism between stress and aging, a finding that helps to explain why intense, long-term emotional strain can make people grow old before their time. Researchers at the Department of Psychiatry at the University of California in San Francisco found that chronic stress hastens the shriveling of the tips of telomeres, the bundles of genes inside cells, which shortens their life span and speeds the body's deterioration. The results of the study which involved 58 women, ages 20 to 50, all of whom were mothers of either a chronically ill child or a healthy child, revealed that stress accelerated cellular aging. The most critical component of stress in the care-giving process was the duration. The more years of care giving, the shorter the length of the telomeres, the lower the telomerase activity, and the greater the oxidative stress. Telomerase is an enzyme that provides stability to chromosomes in the body.

In a related study, researchers at the Department of Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School discovered that stress from mood disorders like depression and anxiety are associated with accelerated aging. The study looked at 44 individuals with chronic mood disorders and discovered that they all showed signs of accelerated telomere shortening. The researchers noted that accelerated telomere shortening reflects stress-related oxidative damage to cells and accelerated aging, and that severe psychosocial stress correlates with telomere shortening.

Combating Stress

Research has also asscociated stress with an increased risk of suicide and slower wound healing. Scientists have known for some time that stress causes wounds to heal more slowly. A 2005 study found that people who described themselves as stressed were more likely to be hospitalized for a suicide attempt and psychiatric disorder.

What can you do to combat stress? Making the choice to back away from stress is a conscious one and it can take time to learn how to react differently. Some of the best stress management strategies are skills that require practice to be effective. Using tools to help with relaxation and meditation can be exytremely beneficial.